Tactical & Technical Procedures
Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures are specific terms which originated in the Department of Defense and have been used for many years to describe military operations. Joint Publication 1–02, Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms specifically defines Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures:
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Tactics — The employment and ordered arrangement of forces in relation to each other.
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Techniques — Non-prescriptive ways or methods used to perform missions, functions, or tasks.
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Procedures — Standard, detailed steps that prescribe how to perform specific tasks.
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Procedures are specific detailed instructions and/or directions for accomplishing a task. Procedures include all of the necessary steps involved for performing a specified task, but without any of the high-level consideration or background for why the task is being performed. The priority for procedures is ensuring complete detailed instructions so a task can be correctly completed by anyone qualified to follow the directions.
To complete our car analogy, the procedures for implementing the “changing the oil” technique would be specific to the car being maintained. This would include all the information about frequency of change, type of oil, type of filter, location of drain plug, tools required, etc. The procedures should be such that anyone (well, almost anyone) would be able to perform the task described using these directions.